Tigers and Rangers' success based on newcomers
On the long road to the playoffs, the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers are top contenders in 2010. Detroit can justifiably point to a host of reasons for their success, but Miguel Cabrera might just be the biggest reason.
And it is no giant shock that the Rangers point to veteran Josh Hamilton.
But a closer look at the rosters of those two clubs, who meet for the second game of their series at Comerica Park on Tuesday night, reveals that it is the rookies and not just the veterans that are having a huge say in the teams' recent success.
For Texas, the visiting club that will start Tommy Hunter on Tuesday, the performance of first-year closer Neftali Feliz has ended games and frustrated potential comebacks from other teams.
Feliz, who took over closing duties for Frank Francisco in the second week of the season, hasn't looked back and amazes not only teammates, but fans as well.
Feliz nailed down his 25th save on Monday, which ranks near the top of the American League.
The rookie’s 25 saves are already 13 more than the previous rookie franchise record and make him the sixth draftee over the last 10 seasons to reach 25 in a single season.
He joined Oakland's Andrew Bailey (26 last year) as the only two rookies over the last four years to have reached such accomplishment.
Showing signs of a veteran player having been around the game for a long time, Feliz just looks past this feat almost uninterested. He knows that this is not the ultimate goal that the club set out for him at the beginning of the year.
"I just want to continue to do the job and just save as many as I can," Feliz said recently.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the diamond, two rookie outfielders are helping power the Tigers, who will give the ball to right-hander Armando Galarraga on Tuesday night.
Yes, the Detroit Tigers have recalled the pitcher from Triple-A Toledo. To make room for Galarraga's return, the Tigers optioned pitcher Andrew Oliver to Toledo.
Galarraga was sent to Triple-A Toledo1 1/2 weeks ago with the intent of getting him some pitching time before rejoining the rotation. Last Friday he threw three scoreless innings for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
It's been six starts since he threw his infamous almost-perfect game, when he was robbed of the honour by a blown call on the 27th out by the first-base umpire.
Galarraga’ s backup comes in the form of Austin Jackson, who is top among all AL rookies with 54 runs scored and 101 hits, while ranking second with a .304 batting average.
His teammate, Brennan Boesch, is tops among all league rookies with a .325 batting average, 12 homers and 50 RBIs, while ranking second to his buddy Jackson with 86 hits.
Any pitcher would be more than happy to have those youngster hitting anything that comes their way, running around on the field and coming up with key plays.
"I think he's the same guy he was when he got here," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said of Boesch. "They throw it [in the strike zone]. He swings. He hits it, he hits it hard. I don't want to change anything."
But they will be tested against Rangers’ Hunter, who is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA on the road and defeated the Tigers with seven innings of one-run, five-hit ball last July 27 in Arlington.
This was the only time he's faced Detroit and ironically started opposite of Galarraga.
The Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler has a 12-game hit streak, tied with Toronto's Adam Lind for the longest active such streak in the AL. He has no plans to see that streak come to an end during tonight’s game.
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